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German polar bear Flocke gets company

Nuremberg's celebrity polar bear cub, Flocke, has a new friend: a Russian bear.
How do you do? The young female polar bear 'Flocke', left, meets a young still nameless male polar bear from Russia.
How do you do? The young female polar bear 'Flocke', left, meets a young still nameless male polar bear from Russia. AP
/ Source: The Associated Press

Nuremberg's celebrity polar bear cub, Flocke, has a new friend: a Russian bear.

The city's zoo says it introduced the male polar bear Wednesday to 1-year-old Flocke, who was raised by zookeepers after her mother rejected her.

The newcomer arrived from Moscow Dec. 29. The zoo hopes he will keep stay about a year before moving to a new home in Madrid.

Flocke at first seemed slightly frightened by the unexpected visitor to her enclosure but the two bears quickly started playing together.

The zoo says it is pleased to see that Flocke — whose name means Flake, as in snowflake — has learned to behave like a polar bear despite being raised by humans.

The male bear was born in November 2007 and does not yet have a name.

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